The Safety Within
by SassyKitten
Summary: A 16 year old runaway starts working for Dom in his garage, rated for later chapters, i promise
1. j e n n y f r o m t h e b l o c k

The Safety Within  
  
  
  
The rain was dripping miserably over Los Angeles as Jenny Monroe crouched in the dark alleyway across from the Toretto house. Her normally silky hair had turned into a horrible mat of beach wood colored hair. The door to the house opened and a long legged beauty stepped out. Her near black hair fluttered in the soft breeze and sent it dancing. As Mia crossed the street, Jenny took a deep breath and doggedly followed her. They went a little way do the street until Mia glanced over her shoulder and pinned Jenny with her big doe brown eyes. "It's foolish to think that I don't know you're following me" Jenny's nerves were on edge, but she tried to maintain her dignity. "I don't know what you're talking about" She said stiffly.  
  
Mia raised a shaped eyebrow and eyed Jenny briefly. "You look like a drowned rat," She said coolly. Jenny wished she could say the same thing about Mia, but she had secretly been watching the house for days, and the infamous sister always looked like she stepped off the cover of a Vogue magazine. "Humph" Was the Jenny's only response and she aimed her pansy blue eyes to something on the ground.  
  
To Mia's view, Jenny couldn't have been more then 16, her skin would be delicate and pale, if there weren't dark circles under her big eyes and mysterious bruises covering her cheeks. The girl was also sickly thin. "What's your name?" Mia asked. Jenny slowly looked back up at her. "Jenny. Jenny Monroe" Mia eyed Jenny's tattered musty clothes and a wave of pity overwhelmed her. "Alright, I'll make you a deal, I'll buy you a meal, and you can tell me why you were following me" Jenny seemed to weigh the decision closely. "Fine"  
  
Jenny trotted after Mia down the street and across a block or two. Soon they came upon a faux beach fronted cantina that had 'Toretto's' in large black letters across the wooden arch. Mia pulled out a leather stool and motioned for Jenny to sit. "What would you like?" Mia asked as she walked behind the bar. "Uh, grilled cheese sandwich, large fries, iced tea" When Mia soundlessly began preparing her food, Jenny took in the scenery. "This is a nice place" Jenny said softly. Mia looked up with a quick fleeting smile. "Thanks, my brother renovated the place a couple of years ago" When she set the food on the bar, Jenny quickly act it without a complaint.  
  
"So, what were you doing?" Mia asked when Jenny was full and apparently content. Tears shimmered briefly in her innocent eyes before she blinked them away quickly. "I ran away from home a few weeks ago, my stepfather-" She paused a moment and touched a hand lightly to her cheek. "Didn't like me very much, he wanted to send me to boot camp, but when my mother refused, he started using me as his personal punching bag. I knew that I had to leave-I did, I knew- But I was frightened. I swore to him and myself that if he ever laid a hand on me again, I would kill him. That was the last night he ever touched me, like he was testing me to see if I were telling the truth. I wasn't, I left"  
  
Sympathy for the lost girl swamped Mia and she had the incredible maternal instinct to want to cradle Jenny in her arms. But as Jenny sat in front of her now, she realized that she wasn't the same girl. "That was brave of you" Mia heard herself say. Jenny raised an eyebrow and murmured "Or very stupid" Mia shrugged delicately and poured an ice tea for herself. "So you're living in the alley?" Jenny nodded and began to nibble on a French fry smothered in ketchup. "Do you mind working?" Suddenly Jenny looked nervous, like a rabbit under a hunter's gun. "Why?" "Because, if you don't mind working a little, I could offer you free room and board" Jenny tried to stop the smile, but it bloomed like a pretty red rose in July. "I would love that" 


	2. g u t t e r m o u s e

Chapter Two  
  
Mia brought Jenny home when the rain had stopped, but the pavement still slick and glistening. They talked about random things on the way back to the house. Dom was still away and Mia figured that he wouldn't be back until late that night or very early in the morning. "There's a big bathroom second floor, first door on the right. You can take a shower or bath, whatever you prefer" Jenny gave her a grateful smile and padded up the stairs.  
  
Mia's predictions were wrong; Dom arrived not long after Jenny had disappeared into the shower. His crystal red Mazda Rx-7 was purring like a tiger as he pulled into the widened driveway. He was sweaty but the smell wasn't entirely unpleasant. His skin was the color of burnished gold coins and was stretched over very impressive muscles he had acquired from hauling heavy car parts over the years. "Dom, I want to tell you, I hired some help for the garage" He barely gave her a glance and whipped his hands on his grease stained shirt. "That's great Mia" He said a little distracted about why he could hear the shower running. "Her name is Jenny, um-" She was about to say more, but then Jenny appeared at the top of the chairs wrapped in a summer berry dyed towel. "And I said she could stay here"  
  
At the sight of him, Jenny's mouth went dry and the way he was looking at her almost made her positive that the water still on her soft golden skin was turning into steam. Suddenly feeling very self-conscious. "I'm sorry," Her voice was barely more then a whisper. Her eyes were wide reminded Dominic of a summer sky over Hawaii. She quickly scooped her dropped clothes up and scurried back into the bathroom to get dressed.  
  
Once Jenny had retreated, Dom grabbed Mia a little roughly and yanked her into the kitchen. "Are you crazy?" He demanded harshly. "The girl had barely reached puberty, you shouldn't have hired her" Mia rubbed her arm that she was sure going to form a nasty bruise and took a step away from her brother. "She's a run-away. Like Jesse was" Something inside Dom defiantly softened and he glanced over his shoulder when he heard the telltale squeak on the chairs. Jenny defiantly looked better, her hair was long and glossy, but her skin still held the signs of abuse.  
  
Jenny nervously smoothed out the none existent wrinkles in her oversized black flight pants and smoke blue tank top. Slowly she climbed down the rest of the stairs and in an unconscious sign of insecurity, went directly to Mia's side. "Dom, this is Jenny Monroe. Jenny, my brother Dominic" They eyed each other for a moment before smiled and shook hands. To Dom, 16 year- old Jenny Monroe was little more then a pretty gutter mouse. But the ugly bruises gracing her cheeks made him frown. He hated to see anything being abused, especially someone who looked as innocent as Jenny Monroe  
  
Since she would be working for him, he decided to test her knowledge on cars. To his surprise, she knew as much as he did. She seemed immensely taken with the magnolia white Spyder he had just won off a guy a week ago. "Nice isn't it?" Jenny looked up at him from under her heavily fringed eyelashes. "That would be the understatement of the century, she's gorgeous" Lightly, she traced a lean finger along the slick paint and sighed wistfully.  
  
"Do you mind getting a little dirty and sweaty?" Jenny shook her head and got down on her hands and knees to check the underbelly of the car. "It's perfect. Wait, is that right?" She asked, pointing a lean finger to something under the car. She moved out of the way so he could get a glance at the twisted metal. "Oh fuck" Dom moaned and nearly kicked the car. "Go inside Jenny" He said, his voice barely more then a growl. A little worried, but not wanting to make him mad, especially since he looked like he could snap her in two, she quickly retreated into the kitchen.  
  
Mia was mixing someone over the metal stove when she came back in. "Is something wrong?" She asked when Jenny cast an uneasy look over her shoulder. "There was something wrong with the Spyder. He seemed pretty mad" Mia shook her head slowly, her hair falling like a silky curtain across her face. Not long after, there was loud shatter and crashing and a whole lot of cursing that could make a sailor blush. 


	3. b o n d i n g

Chapter Three  
  
A little while later, Dom returned with a murderous expression on his face, but since Jenny guessed Mia was used to his kind of temperament, she didn't look affected when he came barreling into the kitchen. "I'm gonna kill this bitch, I'm gonna kill him, I'm going to fucking jail cause I'm gonna kill this bitch" Mia just nodded, but Jenny crowded into the back of the couch.  
  
His eyes looked like burning dark coals and scared Jenny into not daring to move. She almost didn't dare to breath. As all women can, Mia sensed the panic waves radiating from Jenny. Mia bit her perfect cheery rose lip. "Dom," She said softly and motioned towards Jenny on the couch with a subtle point of her hip.  
  
Seeing Jenny scared white and her eyes were the size of dinner plates, he immediately felt a little guilty. He muttered an apology and disappeared into the garage again. With a sad sigh, Mia sat next to her on the couch. "I know what does to you," She said softly. "No you don't" Jenny muttered. "Yeah I do. A few years ago, a little lost scared boy you're age came to our door, he was as battered as an old dog. But we took him in, we couldn't be sure what to do or say around him because he would always look so frightened. Dom and I loved him, and he got better"  
  
Jenny was staring at Mia wide-eyed. "What happened to him?" A sudden wave of impenetrable sadness took over Mia and she ran a hand through her hair. "He got shot" Was all she said and stood up. There was the mysterious sound of bubbling and hissing and Mia glanced over her shoulder quickly. "Oh no" She moaned as the soup she had been making over flowed onto the stove and onto the floor. Jenny jumped up and grabbed at some paper towels to mop the yellowish liquid off the tile floor.  
  
After the mess was cleaned up and a pizza was ordered, Dom returned into the kitchen, his hands, and most of him for that matter, was covered in thick midnight black goo. "Ew! Dominic get out of my kitchen" Mia scolded. "What? I got most of it off" He said looking down at his stained clothes. "Then you obviously didn't look in a mirror" She sighed. Jenny covered her mouth that was unpainted yet totally feminine and giggled softly. The doorbell rang and Mia handed Jenny the money to the answer the door.  
  
What Thomas Fitzpatrick saw when Jenny opened the door was a butter cream skinned flower blue eyed sandy haired beauty. Her eyes were huge and heavy with long black lashes. "H-Hi. You're pizza is 11.50" She smiled slowly and made Thomas think of the sun rising. "Here ya go," She said as she handed him a 20$ bill. "Keep the change," She said as she exchanged the money with the steaming pizza and shut the door.  
  
When she returned to the kitchen and set the pizza on the counter, she couldn't miss the sly smile Mia was sending her. "What?" She asked uncertainly. Mia sighed and opened the box to inspect the melted cheese and huge chunks of pepperoni. "That boy nearly tripped over himself when you opened the door" Jenny rolled her eyes and accepted the slice of pizza Mia handed her. She bit into it gratefully and savored the tangy sauce and bubbling cheese. "If you say so" Jenny muttered when Mia ate her own pizza.  
  
After the food was eaten and cleaned away, Dom escorted Jenny to the room she would be staying in. The walls were painted the color of storm clouds with white silk curtains and a beautiful four-poster bed with charcoal gray blankets draped across them. "This was Jesse's room," He said, and Jenny thought she heard sorrow under the rumble of his voice. "We can change the colors if you like, but will that bed be okay?" Her eye's widened. "I would hate to change the room since it was one of your friends, but I would like to make it a little lighter in here, but the bed is perfect" Her smile was one of Hollywood stars and made Dom wonder were she actually came from. 


End file.
